Cassia export from India

Overview

Cassia is the bark of Cinnamomum cassia (and closely related Cinnamomum species), and although the trade routinely sells it as "cinnamon", it is a different spice from true cinnamon in every way that matters to a formulator. Physically it is thick, hard, dark reddish-brown bark that curls into a single tight scroll rather than the thin, papery, multi-layered quill of the Ceylon-type; its aroma is hot, sweet and blunt, driven by a very high cinnamaldehyde content, which is exactly why it dominates the mass-market cinnamon supply where a strong, cheap, punchy note is wanted.

The commercially decisive difference is coumarin. Cassia is naturally high in coumarin, the compound the EU regulates in cinnamon-containing foods for liver-toxicity concerns at high chronic intake, and this is the reason true cinnamon and cassia cannot be treated as interchangeable for a coumarin-sensitive market. Under the EU contaminant framework, coumarin carries defined maximum levels in the relevant food categories, so a manufacturer using cassia has to manage dosage and testing to stay compliant, or switch to true cinnamon (eurlex915).

India schedules cassia separately from cinnamon for this reason, and the label discipline is genuine: selling cassia as "cinnamon" into the EU without regard to the coumarin position is a real compliance and mislabelling exposure, not a pedantic distinction. India is a modest cassia origin against the Southeast-Asian producers, and cassia shares a tariff line with cinnamon, so there is no clean species-level bilateral trade series; buyers should verify species and origin rather than infer them from the common name.

Growing regions

Cassia-type Cinnamomum is handled in the humid south of India and, as tejpat-adjacent Cinnamomum barks, in parts of the northeast and hills, but India is a modest origin against the major Southeast-Asian cassia producers. Much cassia in Indian trade is therefore imported or re-exported, so grown-in-India origin should be verified rather than assumed. Bark is harvested and dried so the scrolls cure hard, and grade turns on bark thickness, colour and cinnamaldehyde strength.

Sourcing & export considerations

• Available as whole bark scrolls, broken bark/chips, ground powder, and cassia oil and oleoresin through the extraction trade
• The first sourcing decision is species and labelling: cassia (C. cassia) is not true cinnamon (C. zeylanicum), and it must not be sold as "cinnamon" into markets that treat them differently
• For EU-bound cassia products, specify coumarin testing against the applicable food-category limits and keep the certificate of analysis on file, since cassia is naturally high in coumarin (eurlex915)
• Whole scrolls are bulky and can cube out on freight; broken bark and ground forms load denser, so match the form to freight economics
• Cleaning, sorting and any microbial-reduction (steam) treatment are coordinated with vetted third-party facilities, not performed in-house
• MOQ follows trade practice: sample lots around 50-100 kg, private-label from about 100 kg per variant, larger runs by tonnage (cbi)
• Confirm grown-in-India versus imported/re-exported origin, since India is a minor cassia origin and Southeast Asia dominates supply
• Cassia reports under HS 0906 alongside cinnamon, so a clean species-level bilateral volume is not cleanly separable
• For EU and US buyers, specify pesticide-residue and microbial testing in addition to the coumarin and species requirements